The Great Awakening

Chapter 16

            The sky had been covered in grayness as the first couple of droplets poured onto Troy’s trench coat. He was standing outside of the dorms when he finally decided to enter, stepping foot onto the doormat that lay inside and brushing off the water. He was reluctant to walk down the halls, not wanting to face what lay ahead of him. But still it had to be done. He passed Melissa’s room, which would have been no use knocking on anyway; Melissa was with her son, consoling him as they sat by Joanna’s side. He walked further down the dorm, and knocked on the door, where Mr. Mitchell opened up to find Troy soaked.

            Mr. Mitchell could tell by his glum expression that something went wrong during the run, that his daughter wasn’t coming back. His worst fears had come true, but yet, in this instance, he couldn’t cry. Not right away. To him, it felt surreal. He didn’t accept the truth. She will come back! She has to! Any moment now, at approximately 1730 hours, she will walk through that door, and everything will be okay. Troy kept on telling him the truth, and the look on Mr. Mitchell’s face kept contorting, his lips twisting downward more and more as his eyes saddened. “She’s coming back!” He would say. “She has to come back!”

            Soon enough, he couldn’t handle it anymore. He became violent. The kicked the a hole into the closet door, began ransacking the bed sheets, shoving the closet open and tossed their clothes angrily on the floor, and finally, he calmed after punching (and cutting) his hand through the glass window.

            It was then he plopped himself down on his bed, and Troy sat beside him, arm around his shoulders as Mr. Mitchell cried his eyes into his own hands. What he wouldn’t do to have his lovely daughter back in his arms. Why did she have to go? Why did it have to be her of all people!? Why did he ever let her out of his sight?  Why? Why couldn’t it have been him? Who is going to fill that hole in his chest? The pain in his soul wouldn’t stop. It most likely never will.

            Olivia was the only thing he had, the only thing he looked forward to seeing every day. And now that has been taken away from him. Now the only thing he has left in his life is death, where he will be reunited with his loving family once more. At least she’s with her mother and brother.

            Jayden was numbed to the entire world at this time. He sat curled up on his stool. It had been hours since they arrived, and through the night, he hasn’t slept a wink. His eyes were now bloodshot red as he stared at Joanna, who had a massive tube down her throat, stitches that covered her breast where she was shot, a blood pack hooked onto her, and so many more devices. She looked like a machine, and Jayden hated it. Every second. It should’ve been me! he thought. And he kept thinking that. Why was it them and not him?

            It was he who promised to bring Olivia back safe and sound. It was him who she died for protecting. It was him who tripped when Joanna came and picked him up. They should have just left a deadweight like him there to die. None of them deserved any of this. He deserved a bullet to the back. In fact, he wanted to do it to himself. Tears only now just started to brim at his eyes, now that the full extent of what happened back in the town had just finally hit him. The tears came in full, streaming out like a waterfall. Olivia is gone because of him, and Joanna is hurt because of him. His mother is traumatized because she found out the truth to keep him alive. How many more people are going to suffer because of him!?

            All of this played in his head, and the world tuned out to his thoughts. There was no happy place for him. Everywhere was a constant reminder of his failure. He couldn’t bring himself to appreciate what his mother had gone through, nor could he do the same for Olivia or Joanna. It’s not that he hated them, but he hated what happened to them. It was supposed to happen to him. The tears were now hitting the hardwood floor, and his body curled up further into a fetal position.